Big changes are to be made to The Artisan pub and kitchen in Frome following a takeover.

The local watering hole on Christchurch Street West has been bought out by Wiltshire based company Pub Leisure.

It is a small independent hospitality company which prides itself on delivering quality food, drinks and rooms.

Shane O’Rourke-Smith, one of the pub managers at Pub Leisure, spoke to Somerset Live about the takeover.

The Artisan as it looks now (Image: Artur Lesniak)

He said: “We’ll have a new management couple in place by the end of this month and we’ve just hired two new chefs to really boost the food offering here.

“It will probably take around a couple of months for us to complete all the changes we’re after but we hope to carry them out while keeping the business open.”

The pub was originally called The Ship, before changing its name to The Olive Tree and then the Artisan when it was taken over by Anna Brady and Siobhan Cook in 2015. Siobhan has now left the business.

(L-R) Picture of Anna Brady and Siobhan Cook, who took over The Artisan in 2015 (Image: Artur Lesniak)

Shane said there were plans to possibly change the name again.

He said: “We’re contemplating giving the place a new name. We might even do it as a form of competition inviting locals to name it themselves.”